The general use of sling mounts to attach slings to a firearm is fairly well known. Slings provide a way for users to more easily carry and retain a firearm in an active environment. When a user becomes involved in active conflict, particularly in urban conflicts, it is beneficial for the user to incorporate a sling attached to a sling mount in order to provide additional steadiness for accuracy purposes, or to provide an easy way for the user to free his or her hands without having to put the firearm down or otherwise unsecure the firearm. When not involved in active conflict, a sling allows the weapon to be comfortably secured to the user's side, back, or chest. Furthermore, a sling allows a user to quickly access the firearm from the secured position should the need arise.
Slings are most commonly attached to a firearm, such as a rifle or a shotgun, by either single-point, two-point, or three-point designs. The number of points in each design refers to the number of points at which the sling is anchored to the weapon. For example, a single-point sling is generally attached near the rifle's midpoint, and a two-point sling is generally attached once near the front end of the firearm and once near the buttstock of the firearm. A user may prefer one design over the other in order to obtain greater freedom of firearm movement, or to provide greater firearm security.
A sling is attached to a particular point by securing it to an attachment or mount installed at various places on the firearm. The receiver end plate of a rifle or shotgun is a common location for a sling attachment or mount to be located because it resides just behind the pistol grip and thus will not impede a user's ability to quickly fire the firearm. Current designs of clamp on sling mounts with loops for snaphook type attachments that incorporate loops on either the right or left side or both, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,312,662 to Rogers et al. These loops are bulky and tend to get caught up on gear worn by the user or interfere with manipulation of the charging handle or safety. Although most users will favor either a left or right handed configuration, certain conflict environments, such as aiming around a corner, demand that a user change orientation. This can prove difficult with sling mounts that provide attachment points on the side of the firearm. Therefore, there is a need for a sling mount with a true ambidextrous configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,596,504 to Haley, Sr. et al. discloses an ambidextrous configuration of a sling mount having a horizontal bar to which a connecting ring slides back and forth as the user moves the sling from a left-handed to a right-handed orientation. Haley, Sr. et al. allows for a greater range of motion, but comes with several drawbacks. Since the sling must slide across the horizontal bar, if the sling strap catches on a user's gear or is otherwise inhibited, the orientation may not change or could cause the user to have difficulty operating his or her firearm. It is desirable to minimize the time required and any difficulty encountered when switching orientations because of the nature of using firearms in active conflict environments. Another drawback is that installation of this variety requires disassembly of the firearm. Many law enforcement agencies and the military do not allow disassembly of the existing castlenut or receiver end plate in order to install sling mounts such as those disclosed by Haley, Sr. et al. Lastly, since the connecting ring is not fixed, movement of the sling generates noise, which may be undesirable in a stealth operation.
Another means of providing an ambidextrous configuration is to install a swivel connector piece into the lower portion of a sling mount as shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,562,481 and 7,814,697 to Esch. In these patents, the swivel connector piece includes a ring coupled to the swivel body. As the user moves from one handed orientation to the other, the swivel piece twists to allow the sling to change orientations. However, this configuration has the drawback of causing the sling to frequently become twisted. These designs also require three separate pieces (top clamp member, bottom clamp member, swivel mount), and the addition of more pieces increases the difficulty of installation for the user and increases the maintenance required.
What is desired, therefore, is a sling mount for a firearm that provides a true ambidextrous configuration. What is also desired is a sling mount that may be installed with as few pieces as possible without disassembling the firearm. What is further desired is a sling mount that minimizes excess noise and prevents twisting of the sling.